Emotion Processing Deficit in Euthymic Bipolar Disorder: A Potential Endophenotype.

Background: Emotion processing deficits have been described in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and are considered one of the core cognitive abnormalities in BD with endophenotype potential. However, the literature on specific impairments in emotion processing cognitive strategies (directive/cortical/higher versus intuitive/limbic/lower) in euthymic adult BD patients and healthy first-degree relatives/high-risk (HR) subjects in comparison with healthy controls (HCs) is sparse.

Methods: We examined facial emotion recognition deficits (FERD) in BD ( = 30), HR ( = 21), and HC ( = 30) matched for age (years), years of education, and sex using computer-administered face emotions-Matching And Labeling Task (eMALT).